Obama pushes talks in West Bank as he meets Abbas

Hours after rockets from the Palestinian enclave of Gaza hit southern Israel, Obama met with President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority on the second day of his Middle East trip, and challenged both sides to resume face-to-face talks, pledging the United States “would do our part.”

Obama condemned the rocket attacks, which broke a three-month cease-fire, but he insisted that the Israelis should not use violence as an excuse to avoid negotiations, no more than the Palestinians should insist that Israel halt construction of Jewish settlements in the West Bank as a condition.

“If we’re going to be successful, part of what we’re going to have to do is get out of the formulas and habits that have blocked progress,” Obama said in a news conference with Abbas.

“Both sides are going to have to think anew.” – The New York Times.